Just in time for the launch of openSUSE 11.1, Novell developers have completed the new Contrib-Repository. The Contrib will act as a bridge between factory (packages officially supported by Novell) and third party packages.

Calls for a Contrib-Repository similar to those that already exist for Debian and other distros have been getting louder on the openSUSE mailing lists. Then in August, some determined community members got together to make definite plans for a repository, which as of today, is online.

The main purpose of the new repository is to provide order and quality in the openSUSE Build Service projects. Community members decide which packages will be accepted into the Contrib and which not. To keep package roots at as compact as possible, packages already in the Factory depository will be temporarily stored in the Contrib.

Packages that want to be taken into the Contrib must have a Maintainer, responsible for security updates and to ensure the package is synchronized with Factory 2 and avoid conflicts with other Factory packages. Detailed information can be found on the openSUSE Project Website.